Green Laser
Technology

Is green laser better than red laser? Find out more
about the properties and advantages of green laser
levelling devices from Bosch Professional.

Everyone is talking about green laser levelling devices

Currently only certain Bosch Professional products are available in green laser technology versions. However, more will be appearing as times goes by. Here is the current list of products that are available in green laser versions:

Combi lasers:

Bosch GCL 2-50 CG Professional
Bosch GCL 2-15 G Professional
Bosch GCL 2-50 G Professional

Rotation lasers:

Bosch GRL 300 HVG Professional
Bosch GRL 650 CHVG Professional

Line lasers:

Bosch GLL 3-80 CG Professional
Bosch GLL 3-80 G Professional
Bosch GLL 2-15 G Professional

Point lasers:

Bosch GPL 3 G Professional
Bosch GPL 5 G Professional

Receivers:

Bosch LR 1G Professional
Bosch LR 7 Professional
Bosch LR 45 Professional
Bosch LR 65 G Professional

The main advantage of green line laser levels

The major advantage of green laser technology over red laser light is superior visibility. It can be seen more clearly, especially when the general conditions are brighter. This comes down to a simple biological fact. The human eye is four times more sensitive to green light than it is to red light. In practice, that means a green reference line produced by a laser levelling device will be easier to see than a red reference line, especially on a sunny day either outdoors or where a lot of daylight is coming into a room. As a result, working with a red laser level can sometimes be challenging. A bolder reference line is clearly better when it comes to making fine judgements about the positioning of things.

One solution is to black out the windows when you are using a red laser light for levelling. But this is rather labour-intensive and not always practical. People may be coming and going around you and, of course, the site may be outdoors.

The more practical solution is to move over to using a green line laser level if possible. For example, the Bosch GCL 2-50 CG Professional combi laser would make the ideal laser level for small-area projects where accuracy is essential, but the light level cannot be reduced. Think of kitchen installation or joinery tasks carried out in a bright space.

Other advantages of green laser levelling devices

Another useful property of green laser technology is that it travels further than red light (given the same power of laser diode). To demonstrate this, we can make a comparison between the red laser and green laser versions of a Bosch Professional rotating laser level.

	Device	Laser colour	Laser diode	Range without receiver	Range with receiver
	Bosch GRL 300 HVG Professional	Green	< 5 mW	100 m	300 m
	Bosch GRL 300 HV Professional	Red	< 5 mW	60 m	300 m

As you can see, green normally has a range advantage, but red can overcome that if a receiver is used to capture the laser light.

Naturally, the range advantage of green line laser levels does not apply to devices that are designed for shorter ranges (GCL and GLL levels). But for more expansive jobs green laser should definitely be considered – especially when a receiver is not available. That would include tasks such as carry out installations in large public spaces like shopping malls or landscaping outdoor areas.

Advantages of red laser devices

Bosch Professional does not believe in a ‘one size fits all’ approach. The particular qualities of red laser levelling devices can be just the thing that many users require.

The main advantage of red laser devices is that they tend to extract longer usage time from a given power source. For example, consider the following line laser comparison.

Finally, while green line laser levels represent an excellent investment, providing undoubted convenience gains, the red laser is perhaps more attractive if your budget is limited.

	Device	Laser colour	Usage time
	GLL 3-80 C Professional	Red	8 h (Li-Ion) and 6 h (4 x AA) in 3-line mode
	GLL 3-80 CG Professional	Green	6 h (Li-Ion) and 4 h (4 x AA) in 3-line mode

Shared qualities of all Bosch Professional levelling devices

While you are thinking through the green vs red laser issues, don’t forget that red and green laser levels from Bosch Professional share many superb qualities. These include:

IP54 dust and splash protection
Self-levelling within +/- 4° or +/- 5° (depending on the device).

So, whether you choose a robust, self-levelling green laser device or its red laser equivalent, you will benefit from first-class features that make Bosch Professional the natural choice for anyone engaged in measuring.

Green LaserTechnology